The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror

Last Sunday was the debut of the 18th installment of the annual "Treehouse of Horror" from The Simpsons. Since 1990 Simpsons creator Matt Groening has been creating a halloween special for the show, usually to jump start a new season. Of course most people are aware of the decline in quality; as well as, the absence of the classic simplicity of the show. I can not help but rewatch and catch the new ones every year. I've been watching The Simpsons since I was five or 6 years old and never stopped. Its nice to always have that nostolgic feel and knowing you've been as old as one of the most successful television shows of all time.

Although none of these were dreadfully terrifying as a kid. There's something special about consistentecy through the years now that holiday specials appear to be out from more modern tv series. Many of us may remember certain episodes and quotes. "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos." My favorite line from the "Citizen Kang" short of the seventh installment. Another thing was back in the early 90s, not a lot of cartoons existed on national television that featured a lot of gore. It was a chance once a year for cartoon violence to appear and I was all pumped for it. It's funny to think about how some people were afraid of The Simpsons say'ing it was too violent, while nowadays it's relatively mild in comparrison to most shows.

The 18th installment began with Marge talking to the audience which was very reminiscent of the older specials where she or another character would emerge to "warn" the audience of the violence. The first short was entitled "E.T. Go Home" which was of course a parody of E.T. and definately set up the show to be better overall than the previous 3 or 4 years. Bart discovers Kodos the alien in a small garden shed and Kodos befriends Bart in order to plot an invasion. A lot of jokes seemed recycled and predictable, but didn't fall completely flat. Next was "Mr. and Mrs. Simpson" which was the best of the three in my eyes. Although there wasn't much plot in it, I felt it served it's purpose and stuck to more traditional Treehouse of Horrors where the characters are given a characteristic or personality that doesn't fit they're normal character in the show. Finally was "Heck House" which I felt was just dumb. They could have incorporated devil Ned Flanders like they did in "The Devil and Homer Simpson" back in the fourth installment. Started out with the kids playing pranks which was funny, but whatever they were aiming for was only spared by homer's comments.

I read this ARTICLE on IGN with a list of favorite shorts so i decided why not make my own list. There's also a very nice list of all the shorts on WIKIPEDIA!

10. "Time and Punishment"- Homer and a magical time traveling toaster. Homer learns about the fragility of time and butterfly effect. Also it's hilarious when it begins raining donuts.

9. "The Raven"- Excellent parody of Poe's chilling tale. Not to mention an excellent narration by James Earl Jones.

8. "Homer³"- Homer is trapped in a three dimensional world and for the first time ever computer animated in 3-d. The Simpsons are known for being reluctant to moving into modern times and for most of the duration of the show hardly acknowledged modern technology and events. Homer emerges in the real world showing us that we're not too different from him.

7."The Night of the Dolphin"-Never expected dolphins to be so evil. This was probaly the last "excellent" short.

6. "Dial 'Z' For Zombies" - Zombie jokes are everywhere in this one. More comedic action as Homer blasts his way through historical figures and friends.

5. "Clown Without Pity" - Great parody of Twighlight Zone's "Talky Tina"

4. "Bart Simpson's Dracula" -Hysterical vampire jokes and actions. Mr. Burns' castle was a perfect setting for this one.

3. "Citizen Kang"- Aliens, Kang and Kodos, take over the bodies of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton before the election. This is the best jab at politics The Simpson's ever got out.

2. "The Devil and Homer Simpson" - Ned Flanders playing the devil and Homer's day in hell are vividly memorable. Not too mention the comedic trial that follows.

1. "The Shinning" - Simply the best parody ever done by The Simpsons. The jokes and gags are almost straight from the real movie. Absolutely pure entertainment.


Intro to fifth installment and "The Shinning"